Engine starters for motor-driven vehicles



y 5, 1938. J. F. KISSANE 2,122,816

ENGINE STARTERS FOR MOTOR-DRIVEN VEHICLES Original Filed June 10, 1956 aI, 0 l

' ii M g g 32 29 39 I l 1 l [34 i f! 2 53 22' j zz 12 51 43 10fnzlenivrs- Patented July 5, 1938 UNITED STATES Search Room ENGINESTARTERS FOR MOTOR-DRIVEN VEHICLES John F. Kissane, Detroit, Mich.,assignor of onehalf to James H. Murphy, Detroit, Mich.

Application June 10, 1936, Serial No. 84,592 Renewed November 17, 1937 3Claims.

My invention relates to starters for the engines of motor-drivenvehicles such as automobiles, airplanes, and the like, and its principalobject is to provide means whereby such engines may be easily andquickly started without using the battery. In automobiles and trucksprovided with electrical starters according to the present practice itis found that the work imposed upon the battery by the combinedexpenditures of power for lighting, starting and ignition is oftenexcessive. This is particularly the case during the winter months whenthe current required for lighting and also for starting the motor is ata maximum. The maintenance of the battery at this time becomes sodifficult that the engine is frequently allowed to continue running forlong periods when the vehicle is at rest. This habit is especiallycommon in the case of truck drivers, salesmen, and physicians who haveto make frequent stops during the working day, and as a result it isfound in many instances that more gasoline is consumed during thestanding time than during the working time of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, the starting of the engine isaccomplished by fluid pressure from a storage system so that the batterypower may be reserved for lighting and ignition 'purposes, and at thesame time considerable saving of fuel is effected since it is no longernecessary to keep the motor running even during vehicle stoppages ofvery short duration.

A further object of my said invention is to provide an apparatus of thecharacter referred to which is simple in construction and economical tomanufacture, and which may be readily applied to existing vehicles withvery little change in detail of the same.

With these and other objects in view I will now describe a preferredembodiment of my invention with reference to the accompanying drawing,in

which- Figure 1 is a plan view for the most part in section upon thecenterline, showing the complete installation of the apparatus indiagrammatical form.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section on line 33 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an alternative position of thecontrolling valve, to be hereinafter explained.

Like characters designate corresponding parts throughout the severalviews.

My improved starter, as shown more particularly in Figure 1, comprisesin its general organization a motor unit or starter A, a fluid-pressureaccumulator B, a pump C for charging the latter, and a valve mechanism Dfor controlling the supply of fluid to the starter unit.

I is the main cylinder of the starter unit, made from cast iron or othersuitable material, having a bore 2 in which is slidably received apiston 3 provided with leather or other suitable packing 4, the latterbeing secured in position by the annular washer 5 and screws 6. Thepiston is adapted to 5 be moved in one direction by pressure admitted tothe cylinder through the pipe 43 and in the other direction by a helicalcompression spring 54, one end of which presses upon the piston whilethe other reacts against the cover It. In the end of the cylinderadjacent the spring is also a drain pipe 55.

Concentric with the piston 3 and also slidable therewithin is a shaft 1on one end of which is keyed a gear 8 forming part of a rotary hydraulicmotor of the well-known geared type. The gear 8, together with itscompanion gear 9, are rotatably mounted within a casing l0 connected toor integral with the cylinder I and held in position laterally by acover ll, there being provided an inlet pipe l2 and an outlet pipe l3both positioned substantially at the point of tangential contact of thetwo gears. Upon the end of the cylinder l remote from the motor is acover 14 in which is slidably and rotatably supported a shaft I5 whichcarries the starter pinion Hi to be hereinafter described. Within thecylinder 1 and abutting upon the piston 3 is a sleeve or hollow shaftI6", which is rotatably secured to the piston by a collar ll secured tothe piston by screws I8 and adapted to engage a collar l9 upon thesleeve, so that longitudinal movement of the piston will causecorresponding movement of the sleeve while at the same time the sleevemay rotate in relation to the piston. Within the sleeve it" are a seriesof splines 20 which engage at one end corresponding splines 2| in theshaft 1 and at the other end similar splines 22 upon the shaft IS. Theshaft I5 is secured in position within the sleeve by welding or othermeans such as the pin 23, whilethe sleeve is capable of sliding back andforth upon the shaft 'l'and at the same time maintaining drivingrelation with it. As a consequence of this construction, longitudinalmovement of the piston may be employed to move the pinion it into andout of engagement with the engine fly-wheel-ring gear 24 while at thesame time the pinion may be rotated by power from the gear 8 of themotor.

In order to store up power for the operation of the motor unit I employan accumulator B. This accumulator consists of a cylinder 25 having endcovers 26, 21 and having slidably mounted therewithin a piston 28 whichis adapted to be moved in the direction of the arrow 29 by pressure fromthe pump C and in the opposite direction by the helical spring 30, oneend of which presses upon the piston while the other end reacts upon thecover 26. A piston 28 is provided with leather or other packing 3|secured in posio0 tion thereupon by the washer 32 and bolts 33. A pipe34 connects the interior of the cylinder with the pump C on one side ofthe piston and the other side is provided with a vent pipe 35. The pumpC may be of any well-known type having a shaft 36 driven by anyconvenient means from the engine and having an inlet pipe 31 anddischarging into the pipe 34. The operation of the accumulator is wellknown in the art and forms no part of the present invention.

Intermediate the accumulator B and the motor unit is a valve cylinder 38provided with end covers 39, 40. This cylinder is connected by pipes M,42 with the pressure supply pipe 34. The cylinder is also connected bypipe 43 to the interior of the cylinder I, and by pipe 44 to the inletpipe I2 of the motor. There is also a discharge pipe 45. Within thevalve cylinder are a series of pistons46, each consisting of a metallicdisc 46' and a leather or other packing 46" suitably fastened thereto,the pistons being spaced apart by tubular members 41 and secured in theproper spaced relation by nuts 48 upon the valve rod 49, the said rodbeing slidably received in an opening in the cover 40 which is providedwith a packing 40' as shown. The rod 49 is moved in one direction by alever 50 pivoted at and secured to it by the link 52, and in the otherdirection by the helical compression spring 53 positioned within thecylinder at the end remote from the lever. The lever 50' may be operatedby pedal or manual means.

The operation of the starter is as follows:-

When the parts are in their inoperative position, the piston 3 restsadjacent to the inwardly projecting hub IDI upon the casing III, (asshown in dotted lines in Figure 1), and at this time the starter pinionI6 occupies the position indicated in broken lines at I6 so as to be outof mesh with the fiy-wheel-ring gear 24'. At this time the controllingvalve will be in such position that power is entirely cut off from theunit. When, however, the valve is moved into the position in which it isshown in Figure 1, power is admitted through pipes M and 43 to thecylinder I, causing the piston 3 to move into the position shown andputting the pinion I6 into mesh with the fly-Wheel-ring gear 24. Thevalve then being brought by further movement, (by means of lever 50,link 52, and rod 49), into the position shown in Figure 4, power isadmitted to the motor through pipes 42 and 44 to the motor which is thusrotated, carrying with it the pinion I6 and starting the engine. Thestarting thus effected, the valve is moved in such position that fluidis discharged from the cylinder I by pipe 43 to outlet pipe 45 and thepiston is returned to its original position under the action of thespring 54.

In order to prevent damage to the mechanism through extreme violence ofthe initial explosion in the engine cylinder, the pinion I6, instead ofbeing keyed directly upon the shaft I5, is driven therefrom through anover-running clutch C of the well-known roller type. This clutch, in theexample shown, consists of a collar IGI keyed upon the shaft and havingperipheral cam-like portions adapted to co-act with rollers I62 andcause them to frictionally engage the bore I63 when the shaft is turnedin the direction for starting the engine, while when the peripheralspeed of the gear ring 24 tends to exceed the normal speed of the pinionIS, the latter may over-run the shaft. The parts are retained inposition endwise upon the shaft by a collar I64 which engages a shoulderI5I upon the shaft and a collar I65 which is secured in position by anut I66.

It will be observed from the foregoing description and by reference tothe drawing that I have provided a starter which is simple inconstruction and easy to operate, and while I have herein described andshown a preferred embodiment of the same, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art to which my invention relates that the same may bemodified in various ways to suit any particular or peculiar requirementswithout departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in theappended claims.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination, with anengine including a gear, of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, ahollow shaft connected longitudinally to said piston and rotatablerelative thereto, a pinion arranged in driving relation to said shaftand adapted to engage said gear, means for normally holding said pinioncut of mesh with said gear, a source of fluid pressure, means foradmitting pressure to said piston so as to bring said pinion into meshwith said gear, and fluid pressure means for rotating said shaft'fsaid'last-named means comprising a fluid pressure motor, a shaft driven bysaid motor passing through said piston slidably and rotatively engagingsaid hollow shaft, and means for admitting pressure to said motor.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination, with anengine including a gear, of a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, ahollow shaft connected longitudinally to said piston and rotatablerelative thereto, a pinion arranged in one-way driving relation to saidshaft and adapted to engage said gear, means for normally holding saidpinion out of mesh with said gear, a source of fluid pressure, means foradmitting pressure to said piston so as to bring said pinion into meshwith said gear, and fluid pressure means for rotating said shaft, saidlast-named means comprising a fluid pressure motor, a shaft driven bysaid motor passing through said piston slidably and rotatively engagingsaid hollow shaft, and means for admitting pressure to said motor.

. 3. In a device of the character described, the I combination, with anengine including a gear, of

a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a hollow shaft connectedlongitudinally to said piston and rotatable relative thereto, a pinionarranged in driving relation to said shaft and adapted to engage saidgear, means for normally holding said pinion out of mesh with said gear,a source of fluid pressure including a pump and a fluid pressureaccumulator, means for admitting pressure to said piston so as to bringsaid pinion into mesh with said gear, and fluid pressure means forrotating said shaft, said last-named means comprising a fluid pressuremotor, a shaft driven by said motor passing through said piston slidablyand rotatively engaging said hollow shaft, and means for admittingpressure to said motor.

JOHN IQSSANE.

